Blumenthal announced that he was launching an investigation into the beleaguered Smart Choices front-of-pack labeling program two weeks ago, claiming that it was potentially misleading. Since then, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced its own investigation of on-pack and on-shelf nutrition labeling with a view to developing a standardized set of criteria to curtail consumer confusion over label claims.
Following the FDA’s announcement, the Smart Choices program decided to “voluntarily postpone” the scheme and not encourage wider use of its green check mark logo. It said that its resources would be better used to support the FDA in its efforts to coordinate front-of-pack labeling schemes.
Now Blumenthal says he has written to ConAgra Foods, General Mills, Kellogg Company, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, Riviana Foods, Sun-Maid and Unilever, urging them to leave the program. In fact, Unilever has already done so, late on Monday, saying it would wait for FDA guidance.
Blumenthal said: "These companies should disavow and discontinue using the Smart Choices label at least until my investigation and new FDA standards are complete. Suspending Smart Choices was a smart choice – recognizing the severity of concerns that I and the FDA have raised.
"The program's cessation of active operations makes continued use of the logo potentially even more misleading and compounds consumer confusion.
"Our investigation into Smart Choices continues – seeking any scientific research and reasoning to support a program that promotes fat-filled mayonnaise, sugary cereal and ice cream as Smart Choices."
The Smart Choices program was launched in August by the American Society for Nutrition and the non-profit public health organization The Keystone Center, with the collaboration of several major food companies. It was touted as an “at-a-glance assurance” that foods have met science-based nutrition criteria supported by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, but the scheme has been stridently criticized for allocating the program’s green check mark to foods like Kellogg’s Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes, and General Mills’ Cocoa Puffs.
Blumenthal’s ongoing investigation, supported by the FDA, seeks details about the selection criteria for products’ inclusion in the Smart Choices program, fees involved in its administration, and what role food manufacturers have had in its development.